Samaria-a site intensively occupied well
into the Christian Era-revealed traces of
the pioneer work of Omri and his successors.
In visiting Samaria, however, I was disap
pointed to find that local landowners had had
most of the early remains covered over. Yet,
beneath and behind a great temple to Caesar
Augustus built by Herod the Great, I could
still see portions of the Israelite palace and
city fortifications. A magnificent stretch of
wall- once the approach to the city gate
is also clearly visible. In beauty of workman
ship, the stone masonry of this wall equals
any yet found in Palestine.
The excavators of Samaria discovered
ivory fragments strewn through the founda
tions of one building. A Biblical passage
(I Kings 22:39) mentions that Omri's son, the
notorious Ahab, built an "ivory house."
During the reign of Ahab, the Assyrians
a cruel warrior race destined to dominate the
ancient world for more than two centuries
first swirled across the eastern horizon. Lead
ing them was Shalmaneser III, who refers
to himself in cuneiform inscriptions as "the
legitimate king, king of the universe, the king
without a rival, the 'Great Dragon,' the only
power within the four rims of the world
...
who has smashed all his foes like pots."
Thoroughly alarmed, the squabbling king
doms of Syria and Palestine joined forces to
face the new threat. In 853 B.C., at Karkar
on the Orontes River in western Syria, they
met the Assyrian whirlwind head on. The
Bible makes no mention of this battle; but
on a stele found in 1861beside the Tigris, Shal
maneser III listed among his foes at Karkar
"1,200 chariots, 1,200 cavalrymen, 20,000 foot
soldiers of Hadadezer of Damascus... 2,000
chariots, 10,000 foot soldiers of Ahab, the Is
raelite ..."* Ahab's chariots outnumbered
those of any of his allies - a striking testa
ment to Israel's power at that time.
Shalmaneser also recounts the battle's
outcome: "I slew 14,000 of their soldiers with
the sword.... I spread their corpses every
where.... With their corpses I spanned the
Orontes before there was a bridge."
Despite this boast, it is probable that the
coalition of kings checked the Assyrians.
After the battle, Shalmaneser III withdrew.
Twelve years were to pass before he would
*This and many subsequent translations are taken,
with permission, from Ancient Near Eastern Texts Re
lating to the Old Testament, edited by James B. Prit
chard, Princeton University Press, 1955.
HITTITE EMPIRE
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SAUDI AR A
A bridge between the Mediterranean
Sea and Arabia's deserts, ancient Pales
tine beckoned conquerors marching from
Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the north.
Armies swept across the land for 2,000
years before Christ. War and threat of
war plague the Holy Land to this day.
'AAlMDana
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aMLnah
ili-
~(Medina)
)N..S.
JOHN W. OTHERS
OLD TESTAMENT LANDS WITH MODERN BOUNDARIES